


Torn From My Home and Family

by ArcaneAdagio



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-08 16:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11650149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcaneAdagio/pseuds/ArcaneAdagio
Summary: The Director and the Tres Horny Boys have a strictly professional relationship. For all intents and purposes, she has never met them. Her relationship began when they stepped into the Moon Base for the first time.Lucretia and her family, the IPRE. Seven people so closely intertwined they know each other better than anyone could possibly imagine.Sometimes, the lines begin to blur.





	1. the twin(s)

For all intents and purposes, the Director does not know Taako, Magnus, and Merle. She does not know Captain Davenport  _ (just Davenport now)  _ and she has never heard of the names Lup or Barry.

She is not Lucretia.

She is the Director. She is the serious and steadfast leader of the Bureau of Balance, 

_ It had to be done,  _ she reminds herself, every time she sees them and the guilt gnaws at her heart.  _ It had to be done. _

The Director finds Taako alone in the cafeteria, staring at Lup’s -  _ his _ umbrella. His face is uncharacteristically despondent.  “Is something the matter, Taako?” She can’t help but ask. Lucretia can't stand to see him like this.

He starts in his seat, eyes swiveling towards Lucretia. “Oh, uh, what? Yeah, everything’s cool - it’s all... comin’ up Taako.”

_ He always was a terrible liar.  _ “You have been staring at your, um… Umbra Staff, I believe it’s called? For quite a period of time, now.” Each of her words are carefully calculated, the pauses, the way her voice lifts at the end of a question. She’s used to it now.

Taako’s eyes dart from the umbrella to Lucretia. His ears droop slightly, but his grimace only widens. “Well, y’know, it’s just… this thing’s pretty weird, huh?” He gestures to the Umbra Staff. “Like… who makes a staff in the shape of an umbrella? And it, like, eats things? What’s up with that?” He lifts his shoulders up, like he’s attempting to imitate fantasy John Mulaney and failing miserably. Lucretia knows what he is trying to do.

The Director should not.

“You found in a cave, from what I heard. Perhaps it was a zealous wizard attempting to steal the gauntlet.” The Director offers.  _ It’s better if he doesn’t know. _

_ Even if you flinch every time you see his face, every time you almost say the wrong name, every time he stands apart from Merle and Magnus to allow for some unseen, unknown person, every time- _

“Yeah, someone named ‘Lup.’”

Lucretia hopes Taako’s passive perception isn’t high enough to notice the way her hands tighten around her staff. “Lup?” She asks. “...What makes you think that?”  _ Where did you hear that name?  _   
Taako gestures with one finger to the opposite side of the cafeteria. Etched into the walls, undoubtedly burnt in:  _ LUP. _

Lucretia feels sick to her stomach.  _ I’m sorry, I’m so, so-  _ “You may want to check your umbrella to see if it’s cursed. It’s a breach of the Bureau of Balance’s guidelines for hexed artifacts to be on-base.” She's professional, she's practiced, she's guarded.

She's the Director.

Taako shrugs. “I’m sure it’s fine. ‘Sides, I grabbed it from a dead guy, so they’re not gonna come after me any time soon.”

“You… you took it from a body?” Lucretia can’t bear to think about the implications of the statement.  _ All this time, all the while, he found her and he can’t even- _

“Yeah, it was a skeleton, Wave Echo Cave. Listen, it’s not like they were gonna miss it or anything, they’re dead. And before you say anything, no, I’m not above grave robbing.”

“I’m aware.” Lucretia responds.

“Still - it’s like,  _ weird!”  _ Taako bites his lip, as if he’s debating saying anything. “I just - you know. Every time I look at it it’s like Taako’s heading the station to crazy town. It’s...”

The Director raises an eyebrow.

“Like it’s familiar, but not  _ too  _ familiar .”  Taako waves his hand lazily as if to disguise the obvious confusion in his words, “Déjà vu, I guess?"

Lucretia turns around, robes sweeping the floor. She hopes and prays that he can't hear the tightly contained heartache in her voice. “...I would still advise for you to examine your staff. We can’t afford any breaches, you know.”

Taako flashes a lazy finger gun, “Got it, MD.”

As the Director makes her exit, her hand grasped tightly around her staff, she casts a glance back at Taako. He’s gone back to staring at the staff, running one perfectly manicured hand through his bleached and dyed hair.

She looks forward once again, pressing one hand to her face.  _ I’m sorry, Lup. I'm sorry, it's not much longer, I can fix this. _


	2. lavender tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucretia and Magnus have tea.

The Director, in all honesty, hadn't expected Magnus to invite  _ her _ of all people to what he called a “super great teatime friendship party,” but she had seen stranger things in her time.

Apparently, he had tried to invite others, but all had prior engagements. Taako had staunchly refused and claimed he had a "date with death" before popping into another plane to avoid further questions. Merle had gone on one of his private planet-side quests (Lucretia hadn't asked him exactly  _ what _ he did there, though a part of her was always curious.) Carey and Killian had a date together, apparently, at a boxing ring in some sort of tag-team duel. Avi was working on calculations for the next cannon launch (Lucretia had felt a pang of guilt for that one, she knew he and Magnus had become close,) and Johann had refused because of “voidfish stuff,” though if Lucretia would bet that he just hadn’t wanted to talk to other people.

So, it just left her and the young Angus McDonald at Magnus' "super great teatime friendship party."

Not that Magnus seemed to mind. He had happily greeted the two, giving Angus a quick fistbump before welcoming them into the Reclaimers' living room (Madam Director wouldn’t be caught dead using their chosen team name).

Angus happily took his place on a cushion next to the table - Magnus had installed it himself, no chairs required. The thick, red blanket covering the table was worn and homey, despite the fact it probably hadn’t been washed in many months.

(Lucretia was glad his woodcarving back at the Legato Conservatory had grown into something Magnus cared so deeply about.)

Angus stuck his little legs out and bobbed up and down excitedly as Magnus carefully prepared the tea. Lucretia smiled.

Potted plants covered every flat, non-floor surface. The long vines flourished and draped out of the pots and onto the ground. Miniature carved ducks and bears decorated shelves, alongside unread Pan-phlets, magic books, and a tiny music box that Lucretia is fairly certain is Johann’s “totally fire mixtape.”

One book sat on a desk covered in glitter and dubiously fashionable clothing,  _ Caleb Cleveland and the Case of the Vanished Vessel _ , with an ornate bookmark sticking out from a corner _.  _ A chair, precariously balanced on top of a stack of wood, is draped from top to bottom in laundry, so much so that it was hardly recognizable as a chair in the first place. One on wall, a poster of Taako (signed, of course, to the other two) covers the Bureau of Balance-regulated emergency evacuation procedure. From Lucretia’s view into the kitchen, she saw warm yellow painted walls alongside shelves stocked with ingredients and numerous cookbooks.  _ (The Starblaster’s walls were blue.) _

Lucretia sat beside Angus, sweeping her robes to the side and copying Angus’ pose of kneeling next to the table (she’d done it before, a similar table had been one of the main features of the Starblaster’s kitchen, one that Magnus insisted was installed before the trip had begun. Lucretia doubted it was a coincidence.) He looked over at her and gave her a bright and enthusiastic smile that melted her heart, just a little.

It’s a little silly, to see such a large man that Lucretia has seen charging into battle without a thought in his mind, wielding weapons bigger than he was, perform the delicate task of preparing tea with such subtly, but in a way it’s also…

_ Isolating. _

Magnus is different from when he was on the Starblaster. There was a sadness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. He still rushed in without a care, but there was an element of self-sacrifice that hadn’t been quite so obvious before.

Magnus thought tea was too bitter, preferring to stick to coffee and stronger drinks. Lucretia had once seen him brew a cup of some drink they had found on a planet - fantasy red bull, or something, and she was fairly certain he hadn’t slept for the next week.

_ Maybe it’s better if he didn’t remember the recipe for that one,  _ she thought to herself as Magnus placed a cup in front of her. The warm aroma of lavender tea filled the room.

Angus thanked Magnus emphatically before he secretly poured a copious amount of honey into his cup.

Magnus scratched the scruff of his beard sheepishly, “Sorry, I know you don’t like tea, but Merle said if I keep using his coffee he won’t heal me next mission.” (Lucretia pretended not to hear the ‘not like he does much anyway’ Magnus mumbled afterwards.)

The Director waved her hand, “That’s quite alright. After all, this is a tea party.”

Magnus beams at her approval before looking over to Angus. “Hey Ango, how’s it going?”

Angus’ eyes widen, caught in the act of pouring nearly half of the available honey into his tea. “I-I’m sorry, sir!” He squeaks, “It’s just, I, um, I…”   
Magnus’ smile didn't falter. Instead, he ruffled Angus’ hair and laughed  good-naturedly. “Nah, I get it. Teas are kinda bitter, right? Took me awhile to get used to it, too.”   
Angus’ face flushed red, and he took a sip of his tea to cover his face.

Lucretia lets out a little chuckle as she began drinking her own tea.  _ He always did like kids. _

Lucretia wondered why he had left Raven’s Roost. She had brought him there, her face draped in red cloth to make sure he couldn’t see her face clearly, even in his daze.  _ You’ll be safe here, Magnus. This is your home. These people will take care of you. _

Lucretia remembered the way she couldn’t bear to look back, every time she left her friends in the new, strange place that would be the only place they could ever remember.  _ It was for the best, it was for the best, it was for - _

“Um, Madam Director?”

Lucretia looked down at the young Angus McDonald, gazing up at her with large, innocent eyes. “Yes, Angus?”   
“Oh, uh, sorry, you just seemed distracted and I know that by Bureau regulations you’re not  _ supposed  _ to cover the evacuation instructions, but when I brought it up Taako said that he had it covered, so you don’t need to get them in trouble.”   
Lucretia wanted to smile. The Director shook her head, “I’ll just remind Magnus when we’re finished. I’ve seen worse things.”  _ Like playing volleyball with the Light of Creation for a solid five hours before being yelled at. _

Angus smiled.

The tea party wrapped up fairly quickly, there’s not much for the three to talk about beyond Magnus airing his grievances about his roommates. (Merle had apparently developed an affinity for placing his plants on the ground, allowing to grow to monstrous sizes, and yelling at whoever stepped on them.)

Besides, Lucretia got the feeling the Director’s presence added a certain feeling of awkwardness to the room. The idea made her stomach twist.  _ A hundred years in the same ship and they’re effectively strangers. _

Angus bids farewell, giving a big thumbs up and a grin on his way out. Lucretia decided to stay behind and help Magnus clean up, despite his insistence that he was, ‘fine, no, really!’ ( _ Maybe it was another habit Lucretia still couldn’t drop, after all the years. _ )

Magnus methodically wiped the cups clean with a rag, placing them as gently as he could onto the rack, where they clattered together quietly. The entire time, he casted nervous glances over to the Director, like he was afraid she was going to judge his quarterly report on his teacup cleaning skills. The thought made her heart twist.  _ You are his boss, you know. You’re not teammates, you’re not friends. You are his boss. _

“So…” Magnus tails off, still staring at his teacup (decorated in tiny yellow painted ducks, all in a row) “do you… go to Bureau gatherings often?”   
The Director paused her cleaning and chooses her words carefully. “I make it a priority to make sure all my employees are doing well.”

Magnus shuffled awkwardly. He reached into his shirt and began to twist a wooden ring between his fingers, seemingly without even noticing he was doing it.

Lucretia had checked on Taako, Magnus, and Merle repeatedly after her quest to recover the relics had begun.

She attended Taako’s shows, shrouded in thick clothing to obscure her face, watched as he eagerly and easily danced through simple transmutation routines (always leaving enough space on stage for another person to join), watched from afar as Merle sat on the edge of the sand, the water lapping at his feet (quietly, like he was waiting for someone from the horizon), and saw Magnus enter the Hammer and Tongs and the day he and his wife joined together under a wooden gazebo, with eyes only for each other.

Lucretia had left flowers as a gift.

_ Julia,  _ Lucretia realized, was why Magnus was here today. The reason he wasn’t the same man as before the hundred years on the Starblaster.

Lucretia bit back an apology. It would be suspicious to mourn a woman Lucretia had never met.

The day she had returned to Raven’s Roost to find nothing but ashes was a stab to her heart. Like how news reached how  _ Sizzle It Up with Taako!  _ had been cancelled after an accident, thirty people dead, poisoned, the chef  _ gone.  _ Merle abandoned his home beach, in search of  _ something  _ he couldn’t remember or name, outside of an unhappy marriage and a life that felt too stagnant and restricted.

Of  _ course _ they could never live simple lives. It could never be  _ easy.  _ Her friends, her  _ family _ , could never enjoy life easily, always beaten by fate or chance onto the most unfortunate paths.

But oh, how much she had missed them. The day they stepped onto the moonbase, dazed and confused, looking up at her face, it had taken everything she had not to start sobbing there and then. She missed them, she missed _everyone._ Lucretia missed sitting in the kitchen with her family and being an equal, being able to tell them how much she loved all of them so, so much.

_ It was for the best. _

The Director sat her cup down firmly. The ceramic coating made a loud smack against the table, but remains unbroken. She turns to face the exit of the kitchen, briefly she looked back at Magnus, confused by her sudden departure.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for the Bureau, Magnus. I had a wonderful time.”

_ They were supposed to be safe there. _   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to cerealwatch on tumblr for proofreading!!
> 
> this is for day one of lucretia week - the director/the ipre

**Author's Note:**

> i would die for lucretia. i would DIE . for lucretia. the world's most incredible and lovely woman . i love her.


End file.
